Transmission mechanism



May 3,1927.

J. E. OVREN TRANSMISSION MECHANISM Filed 'July e. 1925 s Sheets-sheet 3@Y U mf Nga/W Patented May 3, 1927.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE,

JOHN' E. OVREN, 0I' STOUGHTON, WISCONSIN, ASSIGNOR 0F ONE-HALF T0 :BEN`

JAIIIN J. LOGAN, 01?' STOUGH'IN, WISCONSIN.

TRANSMISSION iunormlarsur.

`Application filed Ju'lyV 6,

This invention mechanism. l

Objects of this invention are to provide transmission mechanism whichutilizes change speed Gearing of a novel and Veffective type which maybe applied vto existing types of automobiles' with a minimum' of change,and which will yetextend the range of speed of thev machine withoutrequiring Vany alteration whatsover inthe standard transmission of theautomobile.

Further objects are to provides trans? mission 1nechanism-which maybefapp'lie'd to the driving shafts or rear axles of a standardautomobile, and `which is adapted to be applied adjacent the rearordriving wheels of an automobile, and which requires only a slightincrease in spacesuch increase being vprovided on the outer side ofthewheel.

Further objects are to provide a trans-` mission mechanism `which iscompletelyy housed and is` self-contained, and has the ap'- pearance i?a slightly larger hub cap than the standard cap withoutrequiring',however, a great amount o-f room, and which does not detract from theappearance of the: machineto which it is applied.

Embodinients of the invention are'shown in the' accompanying drawings,in Whichfz-fH Figure l is a sectional view through a driving Wheel andthe rear axl'e showingthe device in position, such view showing thedevice applied toI a standard rea-r axle conrelates to transmissionstruction.

Figure 2 is a similar viewv of a modified form in whichl a diii'erentvariation of speed is attained.

Figure 3' is a view of a further form in which the standard axle isreplaced" by an axleespeciall'y' made for this d'cvice.,` While theinventionhas been shown? as applied primarily to automobiles, it is ap#arent 4that this transmission gearing may Jemployed inother'cazp'acities without de parting from the spirit of the invention.V

Figure 1,l showing' one form of the invention willj first be" describedReferring t'o this' figure, it will'l be' seen that the'y standard rearaxle housing* lE is employed together with the standard shaft 2.

The wheel`Iv 3 is boltedl between afiiange 4 of an outwardly projecting;casing 5l and an inner l'ange 6 Otans inner cas-ing.

' Further, it to be'noted that the ordi- 1925. serial no. 41,760.

nary brake drums 7 are secured in place lby the same bolts 8, whichretain the angs, previously described, in binding engage; ment with thewheel 3. Y

If desired, the casing 5 may be' made in two parts, as shown in Figure1, suchparts being held together inany suitab e` manner. The casing 5carries a spider 9` which-is provided with a plurality of regularlyspaced stu-b shafts 10 upon which bevel gears l1 freely rotate. These'stubshafts are p'ovided with outwardly projecting integralcon'tinuations 12 which fit in `correspon ing sockets in the casing 5,as shown in Figure 1. These' bevel gears 11 mesh witha bevel gear 13which is splined to an extension 14. rlhe extension 14 is' spline'dtothe rear' a'Xle 2 and is provided with a tapered ,portioil adapted towedge upon the tapered' endV of such rear axle. d

A plug@ I5 is apertured and internalily threaded to engage the threadedvend :of the shaft- 2 and it is to be noted that .the inner end of thisplug engages a shouldered por'- tion 16 of the extensionV 14.vPreferably,

the Vplug is provided with ahegagoal or other shaped vend 1'7adaptedtobe operated by a wrench in order to 'lock the extension n 14rigid-ly to' the shaft 2. l

From the descriptionthl'is'far giv'en,it willf be seen that the geajrlrotates with the shaft 2 under al-lecond'itions j Y A bevel gear 18:al'so meshes with the bevel pinions 11, as indicated, and is revolubl'ymountedl upon the extension 14, such bevel gear being provided with anelongated hubv 119. lIt is to' be noted" from Figure that this h'ubisrevolublv mounted within av shell 20 formed' integrally with the Hnge 6pre;- viously described. n I

The rear' portion of the' hub 19' spl'ne'd j toa locking member' 241Ewhichffreeiy, sli'des upon such hub andiscontrolled"by Ineansof a rod22, suoli rod having aJ ring-like*V sec- Y tion fitted within a groove"in the inem'.- berf21f. Thev member 21 is` provided with teeth 245 and25; The teeth 25 are adapted to engage' teeth 26 formed in' a socketedportionv of the outer' endA of the rear axle housing and theA teeth- 24areV adapted toe'n'- gage teeth* 27' fbrrned i1i asoclerte'dportion oftheringglike member 20l whicliL is* vrigid withthe wheelv 3, v A

In operation' the device iiuri'ctions`- as vfol*- lows:-VWlien' theparts are in the position shown in Figure 1 the transmission mechanismis in neutral position. Rotation of the shaft 2 is not transmittedV tothe wheel 3 for the bevel gear 13 drives the bevel-pinions 11 which inturn drive the freely rotatable bevel gear 18 and thus no power istransmitted to the wheel 3. However, when the rod 22 is drawn inwardly,the teeth 25 and 23 lock and the gear 18 is held stationary. Thus whenthe shaft 2 rotates, the bevel pinions 11 are caused to walk around thebevel gear 18 and the wheel is rotated at half the speed of rotation of'theshaft 2. Thereafter, the shift rod 22 may be slid out-- wardly, thuscausing interlocking to occur between the teeth 24`and 27. This locksthe bevell gear 18 rigidly to the wheel and the bevel gears 18, 11 and13 rotate as ak unit andcause a direct connection between the wheel 3and the sha-ft2. l

In this form of the invention, the transmission mechanism allows theshaft to drive the wheel at half speed or at full speed by a simpleshifting motionof the shift lever Figure 2, showing a further form oftheinvention, will now be described. Tn this form ythe standard drive shaft2 and rear axle housing 1 are employed as in the form previouslydescribed, and a member 21 cory responding to the similarly numberedmemlll ber 21 in Figure 1, is employed and provided with teeth 24 .and25. are adapted to engage teeth 27 and 26, as in the previouslydescribed form of the invention. Similarly,v a shift rod 22 is employedto .operate the member 21. In this construction the gear 18 is `alsoemployed and normally freely rotates upon the hub 28 of a spider 29,such hub being rigidly locked to the drive shaft 2 in a manner similarto that Vpreviously described, by means of a cap or nut30. The spidercarries a plurality' of short stub shafts 31 upon which bevel pinions 32freely rotate. These stub Vshafts are provided with integral extensions33 which fit within corresponding sockets formed 1n a ring 31fsl1d-ablycarried within the casing 34, such casing bemggrigidly bolted to thewheel 3. AA bevel gear of ring-V like construction, as indicated at 35isrig@ idly bolted to the casing 34.

This form of the invention may be Kop erated, as described herewith. For instance, whenv neutral position is desired, the parts are left intheirrelative positions, as shown in Figure 2, and rotation of the shaft2 merely causes the spider 29 to rotate the bevel pinions 32 about thebevel gear 35, the bevel gear 18 freel turning without transmittingpower to t e wheel 3. i When, however, the Ashift rod 22 is movedoutwardly the teeth 24 and 27 interlock and the bevel gears V18, 32, and35, together with the wheel 3, 'rotate' as a unit and consequently theThese teeth.

wheel is driven at the same speed as the Y shaft 2. Vhen the shift rod22is drawn inwardly, the teeth and 26 interlock and the member 21 isconsequently held stationary, thus holding the' gear 18.V Vhen the shaft2 is rotated the bevel pinions 32 travel around the bevel gear 18 andconsequently rotate the bevel gear at twice the speed of rotation oftheshaft 2, thus driving the the drawings. A bevel Vgear 37 is rigidlykeyed to the outer end ofthe drive shaft and is provided with a hubwhichV freely rotates with a bearingformed in the casing 38, suchcasingbeing rigidly secured to the wheel 3. A spider 39is mounted for freerotation .upon'the shaft 36 and is provided with a plurality of :stubshafts 40 upon which bevel pinions 41 freely rotate. These stub shaftsareprovided with integral outwardlyy projecting extensions 42 fittedwit-h-V in. corresponding sockets in the extensions 38. If desired, aclosure cap 43 may lap over the outer *ends of the projection 42,A

such closure cap being threaded to the casing 38, as indicated at 44. Abevel gear 45 meshes with the bevel Apinions 41 and Vis itil) splinedtoa slidable sleeve 46 mounted upon the shaft 36; lThis sleeve ispreferably provided Ywith a plurality of collar-like ribs 47 which areengaged by fingers formed ina shift member 48 carried by a shift-rod 49.A convenient way of carrying this shift rod is by means of a bearing 50formed in an auxiliary member bolted to thel flanged end 51 of the rearwheel housing v52.A In this form of the invention, an internal sleeve 53is. positioned within the rear axle housing 52 and is provided with ashouldered.portion which carries the inner raceway54 of a ball bearing,such inner raeeway being held in place by means olinuts 55 screwed uponthe threaded projecting end of the sleeve 53. The outer raceway '56 of`the ball bearing is carried within a channel formed in an auxiliary ring57 Vbolted to the. wheeli..V

In operation the parts may ,beV leftin neutral position, as shown `inFigure 3, and in this case the rotation of the shaft 33 does not rotatethe wheel 3 but merely rotates the bevel gear 37, the bevel pinions 41,the bevel gear 45'freely rotating the sleeve 46 to which it is looselysplined.

When the shift rod. 49 is drawn inward.-

llt)

ly, the splined portion of the sleeve 46` Y rigidly connects the bevelgear 45 and theV "Ii to occur between the elongated teeth 58 of thesleeve 46 and the teeth 59 of the sleeve 53. Thus the gear is heldstationary and the bevel pinions 49 are caused to walk around the bevelgear 45, thus rotating the wheel 3 at half speed.

IVhen, however, the shift leverv 49 is moved outwardly, the elongatedteeth 58 lof the sleeve 46 are caused to engage the teeth 60 of thespider 39 thus rigidly locking the bevel gear 45 and the bevel pinions41 together. In effect, this locks all of the bevel Agears together1 andcauses the wheel to rotate at the same speed as the Shaft 36.

It will be seen that a transmission mechanism has been provided whichmay be applied to the driving wheels of automobiles without requiringany change whatsoever in the main differential of the automobile or inthe transmission mechanism thereof, Such as is found on standardautomobiles.

Itwill be seen further that this transmission mechanism is extremelycompact and is assembled adjacent the driving wheels of the automobilein a manner which is not unsightly and which does not occupy anexcessive amount of room, but which, when fully assembled, simulatesvery closely the appearance of the ordinary hub cap.

It will be seen further that this transmission mechanism extends ofspeed of the automobilein a and eiiicient manner.

Although the invention has been described very simple in considerabledetail, it is to be understood that the invention may be variouslyembodied and is, therefore, to be limited only as claimed.

I claim:

1. The combination of a rotary shaft, a stationary housing surroundingsaid shaft, a wheel mounted coaxially with said shaft and beyond saidhousing, acasing rigidl bolted to said Wheel, a sleeve keyed to saidshaft and projecting therefrom, a spider revolubly mounted upon saidsleeve andhaving greatly the range projecting pins anchored in saidcasing-and having intermediate bearing portions, a plu-V rality of bevelpinions carried upon said bearing portions, a bevel gear keyed to theouter end of said sleeve and meshing with said bevel pinions, a secondbevel gear revos lubly mounted upon said sleeve and meshing with saidbevel pinions, and means for locking said second bevel gear either tosaid wheel or to said stationary housing.

2. In an automobile, having a drive shaft provided with a conical endand havinga keyway therein and having a stationary housing surroundingsaid shaft, the combination of a sleeve fitting over the end of saidshaft and having a conical bore conforming to the conical end of saidshaft, said sleeve being keyed to said shaft, a wheel mounted coaxiallywith said shaft, a casing rigidly carried by said wheel and having ahollow bearing at its outer end, a bevel gear keyed to said sleeve andfitting within and carried by said hollow bearing, a spider revolublymounted upon said sleeve and having projecting pins anchored in saidcasing and having intermediate bearing portions, a second bevel gearmounted adjacent said wheel andV revolubly carried by said Sleeve, aplurality of bevel pinions mounted upon the intermediate bearingportionsof said spider and meshing with said bevel gears, said second mentionedbevel gear having an elongated hub provided with a keyway, a slidablemember carried by said hub and having a tongue fitting within saidmember, said slidable member and said wheel and housing havingmterengagmg means, whereby said slidable member may Akeyway, means forshifting said slidable be locked either directlyvto said wheel ordirectly to said stationary housing. Y

In testimony that I claim the foregoing I have hereunto set my nand atMilwaukee, in the county of Milwaukee and 'State of Wisconsin.

JOHN E. ovnEN.

